


THE MAZE THROUGH YOUR MIND

by Dreams_in_heart



Category: Voltron: Defenders of Tomorrow, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 02:03:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16801501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreams_in_heart/pseuds/Dreams_in_heart
Summary: “How long will it take so life becomes better?”Leandro turned to Akira, surprised by the sudden question, and he smiled softly;“Wow, that’s pretty deep… In which way?”Akira was bitter;“In a way where all forms of lives would respect each other... Of course, with technology making human race mad, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon...”Akira looked so melancholic that Leandro quickly blurted out :“You’re right, you know? I mean, we see what happens with...” he exaggeratedly glanced to his left and his right to see if anyone was listening. “Layla, and her obsessions with the machines...” he whispered dramatically. It was ridiculous, but it worked. However, he barely heard the indignant yelps from the concerned, as he was blinded by Akira's smile. A playful smile, a satisfied smirk, the expression of someone walking with his friends, in some peaceful place, and not on a dangerous mission with the lives of a whole society on their shoulders. That was the smile Leandro wanted to stare for the eternity. And while there was snickers and sharp replies, he murmured for himself :“How long will it take for happiness to relieve you from what you've lived?”





	THE MAZE THROUGH YOUR MIND

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> This is a Leakira oneshot. I know that some shippers don't approve Leakira, but I assure you that it's just an AU, that a lot of us joined after season 7, when we saw our hope destroyed by the bad LGBT representation. Don't get me wrong; I loved season 7. It was my favorite, and I didn't watch it only for the ships. However, it's fun to be part of a “reboot” (no one wants to buy Voltron or dreamwork; it's just an AU) where Klance is cannon, where Adam is alive and still in couple woth Shiro, and even where Allura and Romelle are a thing... 
> 
> The idea doesn't come from me; a shipper had the amazing idea to invite fans to collaborate on a common zine, and so my work is my participation to it.
> 
> In Voltron: Defenders of Tomorrow, Lance is Leandro, Keith is Akira, Shiro is Hiroshi, Adam is Dante, Hunk is Hanare, Pidge is genderfluid and goes by the names Pana or Layla, Allura is Alzina, Romelle is Rowan and Coran is Cola.
> 
> There we go for a story where the Voltron team are the rebels. The only way for them to take back the city from the Galras is to go through a deadly labyrinth and to seize a lost weapon from World War III before them. However, only a few of the group can enter the maze...

The pen’s cap was tapping restlessly on the table, its owner incapable of sitting straight. Who still wrote with a pen at that time, Leandro wasn’t sure, but maybe to him, it was an object that represented what he felt; useless, that’s what he was. 

His closest friend sat further in the room with their gender fluid pal, who today was wearing the more “feminine” bracelet that Hanare had made them. Downstairs, he knew he would find Dante working with Alzina and Rowan on battle strategies, while Cola was away on infiltration mission. Only Hiroshi, the one he and all his teammates considered as their leader, was wandering around. Since the attack on the city, the man had grown more and more sad, and now the stress of being responsible of not only their group’s sake, but indirectly the whole world’s had worn him out. Leandro, if not so twitchy, would normally have tried to distract him, but at the moment, he wouldn’t do much good to anyone.

The truth was he was worried. Without an order to follow or a task to achieve, he was left alone with his thoughts, and right now, it confined him in a dark cloud of restless fear. He didn’t blame his friends for not paying attention to him, though; all of them were constantly followed by a thick fog of doubts. 

And that was because they had gone through a lot. Like all men and women in age, they had been recruited in a military program inside the biggest and brightest city of the country, to be able to defend Earth against incessant attacks. The only problem was, no one knew much about the enemies, for they didn’t even come from Earth; the planet was facing aliens, a hostile race named the Galras, with the most powerful energy sources no one had ever seen; two months ago, the Garrison, along with the rest of the town, had fallen into the Galra’s hands, by some techniques that even Layla would fear exploiting. Only Leandro and who he now called team had escaped; Hanare, the most gentle and yet incredibly logical guy in the world, Rowan, a young Alurizean passionated about history, the first who befriended him in the military, Alzina, who he didn’t know very well but had learnt a lot about from Rowan, Cola, Alzina’s uncle, who knew more about hostiles than all of their officers reunited, Layla, who sometimes was Pana too, who had shitty luck but was the cleverest person in their program (actually, it was thanks to them they had run away in time), Dante, the most patient officer, who always had known how to reach to everyone, and Hiroshi, who was back then one of the lead officers, strong but nice and understanding. And of course, Akira, who they were now waiting for…

Leandro knew he shouldn’t be worried for him. Akira always had worked independently, dark and mysterious as he was, and it always suited him. But today, he was in a lot more dangerous situation than in his previous life state. As for the reason he had to go back into the city…

The team had found shelter in an abandoned military base, mostly destroyed by radioactive attacks during World War III. Layla had declared it was an advantage for them, since the particles still in the air would emit radiation and block most of the emissions from electronic devices without affecting their health if they weren’t exposed too long to them. Since then, they had worked on plans and strategies to bring down the Galras, but nothing realistic had taken form. However, Akira’s relations had made a big step forward for the team; it was mostly thanks to him that they had built an underground network, composed of the street people (from the times the city was theirs) and fugitive citizens, from the Galran’s grip. They were the only people still in liberty, their only allies in town. And since Akira was the only one who could safely approach street people, the team always sent him in there. Alone.

It was what happened this day; the team needed crucial informations about their enemies... They had relied on an old warlike communication device, one they found in the main building to trace his location and know if he got into any trouble. They were all ready to pass into action. Until the line cut itself.

A general panic had agitated the whole group. Leandro had screamed at the giant screen, without anyone to shut him up. It was Dante who had calmed them, and since then had tried to keep everyone occupied. The explanation they wanted to believe was that Akira had walked into a determined zone where no electronic wave other than Galran could touch. Leandro had kept anxiety as far from him as he could, and he didn’t want to fall in it now. He had to keep his head clear, for Akira…

He suddenly got up, so brutally that both Hanare and Layla jumped from their seats, interrupting their debate. They frantically looked around, searching for the new danger, until, after seeing Leandro running up to the main computer, they let out a hopeful exclamation: the computer was beeping, and Akira’s signal was on the screen again. 

“Thank god!” Murmured Hanare, before heading to the stairs.

Leandro, who had stayed silent, rushed behind him, heading up to the doors. He knew he could count on his friend to tell the others; he needed space.

In the main corridor, he almost ran into Hiroshi. The man was so deep in thoughts that he didn’t seem to notice his agitation, and just looked startled to see him bursting out of the room so suddenly. 

Hiroshi was the first one in their group that had known Akira. Since the boy wasn’t part of the military program, the others hadn’t heard about him until the attack on the city, where they all ran away together. Leandro liked to think that his bond with Akira was special, but he didn’t know much about his past with Hiroshi. 

Careful not to close the reinforced doors behind him, he stepped outside and closed his eyes, releasing his mind, who ached from all the doubts and dread. He was aware that danger waited outside, but he didn’t care; didn’t Akira face it all alone?

At least, from there, the world didn’t seem all trapped between walls and ceiling. There, worries, instead of suffocating you, extended and thinned down in a much more vast and open spirit: Earth. Human race had become so obsessed with technology it had taken everything; the sky, the seas, where did people look to recall their place in the world, to keep some peace in their mind? Maybe that was why Akira liked the sky.

“You shouldn’t stay here all alone” said a voice behind him.

Leandro jumped, hand going straight to his thigh where he always kept his pistols, but as he turned, he recognized with a wave of relief Dante, who just smiled slightly at his nervousness.

“Sorry” he said softly, before walking to his side to stare at the sky.

For a few moments, they fell into a tensed silence, heavy of the words that they were too afraid to say out loud. Then, from afar, the sound of an engine disturbed the night, and, without even noticing, Leandro took a few steps forward, his agitation increased by the proximity of his friend. Their partner. If he had looked back, he would have seen Dante smile fondly at his hopeless attitude.

At last, as the whole team anxiously stepped outside, they could make out, in the distance, a man riding a rather quiet motorcycle at an incredible speed. Only a few seconds passed before he arrived at their level, hair disheveled and new scratches on his pale skin, but still imposing a deadly seriousness to anyone who would have laughed.

Still, there was something wrong about him; as Leandro observed Akira step down from his engine, he perceived some kind of distraction, of unsteadiness in his friend’s mind. His posture wasn’t as straight as usual, his hair, normally pulled back for a matter of efficiency, looked like he just got out of a scuffle, there was something in the way he raised his head, as if his neck hurted…

He was proved right when Akira turned to them and advanced with slightly wobbly steps, his new position allowing them to see his eyes; suddenly shuddering, Leandro noticed his glazed look and his inscrutable expression, almost absent. He walked to him with concern;

“Hey, are you alright?” he inquired, worries filling him as Akira stared at him with the look of a dead.

For a fraction of second, the boy seemed lost, like he was trying to remember something, but then he just shook his head gloomily. Leandro had time to remark bruises on his neck that were still bleeding.

“We should go inside and hear what you’ve got” announced Hiroshi on a soft tone, letting relief show on his face. “I’m sure you’ve had a very long journey, and…”

Akira’s eyes went wide as a sudden realization struck him, and he interrupted Hiroshi with a loud voice:

“Galras have picked up an enormous energy source. It’s coming from unbelievably powerful electronic emissions, that had mysteriously stayed undetected until now; they will come to get it, and it’s right besides our position!”

Silence fell. The silence of the doomed. The time it took for them to assimilate the informations weighed down more and more the burden of the world on their shoulders. Then, it was broken brutally by a victorious exclamation;

“I knew that there was something weird around here!” shouted Layla, a smugly grin on her face. “The main computer was showing me interesting electronic waves that came from somewhere near this old town, and Hanare kept telling me that I was crazy.”

“You know what it is?!” cried out Rowan, incredulous.

Leandro sneaked a quick glance on Akira; the boy had regained control on himself, but a subtle troubled expression remained, a look that had no relation with the imminent danger that weighed on them.

During that time, a confused argument had raised, tone increased with panic and pressure of the troubles they’d have to face. Layla was torn apart between all questions that were thrown to her and she was yelling, trying to regain control of the situation, until Hiroshi shouted:

“Everyone! This will not help our case. Akira, can you tell us more about the situation?”

Akira seemed startled for a second, then he shook his head gloomily, eyes refusing to meet anyone’s but their leader’s. 

“I think I can…” blurted out a small voice in a shy tone. 

Everyone turned to Hanare, eyes burning with fervour. 

“With Rowan, I was studying advanced history in military, and something stuck in my head…” he started hesitantly. “Some officer’s journal was found from World War III, and in it, he wrote that he bore the secret of an astonishing weapon, highly protected by technologies so advanced that no individual all alone could understand the whole thing… and the weapon either” he added after a few seconds of reflexion. “It was never found; nor the weapon, nor the field or whatever’s protecting it. It says…”

“That no one should ever have access to such power, as no man should hold the whole world’s sake in their single hand…” Rowan completed, a look of horror on her face.

Hanare continued;

“We’re standing on an old war site, right? The radiation hid every other energy source, and yet the computer indicates a field of such power that the Galras have picked it miles away from here. And if Layla hasn’t decrypted it yet …”

“We must have found the weapon…” completed Layla darkly.

They all exchanged resigned glances, not fully able to refrain their weariness from their eyes. Dante was glaring at Hiroshi, and then murmured to them gravely:

“I know how all of that sounds; I know how much we have to bear right now; but, for the whole world’s sake, for our friends and families, we can’t give up.”

“Dante’s right.” Hiroshi had a solemn expression. He turned to Layla and Hanare; “From the computer, you’ll lead us to the signal. The rest of us will go to the area and pick up as many details as we can to understand what we’re dealing with. Then, we’ll decide who will go and get the weapon. It’s a life or death situation we have to face...”

“Oh oh! There’s a code here!”

Alzina’s voice was amplified by the high and thick walls they were standing in front of. They had been careful approaching the site, but none of them had expected something of this scale; leaving apart the fact that there was some kind of field around them that had a weird vibe around it (given up by the small electronic shocks and intense buzzing they had heard), they had been intimidated by their view, a total human made rock wall, reinforced by every kind of heavy metal known to this date. It was a rather rough work, and surprising that it had stayed hidden that long, but there was something about it that impressed them, and the more Leandro stared at it, the more he felt an uneasiness settling in him, an uneasiness that wasn’t natural.

They waited a few seconds, and then, they heard Layla’s altered voice over their communication devices (the field had cut majority of the signal);

“It’s… it’s a labyrinth…” she announced, astounded.  
It took a moment to assimilate the new, and then, after a time of thought, Alzina asserted:

“Well, in that case, the weapon must be at its center. We must go in!”

“No! Wait!” Layla exclaimed. “The code you noticed, it leads to an interactive map of the maze! And… it doesn’t augur well…”

“The maze is full of traps and mechanisms, and once you step in it, if you have no one to guide you, you’ll activate them and spend the rest of your life to try to find the way…” chimed in Hanare. 

“The field provides all unwanted technologies to go through, and except if we enter the right code, no energy will be working once inside the labyrinth.” Continued Layla. “When we decide who will go…”

“Wait, so we actually have to get it?!” brutally interrupted Leandro, with a sudden shudder. “If it’s so well protected, why can’t we just leave it there? If what you say is true and we have found the most powerful weapon created by man, it would be less dangerous that it stays untouched…”

“I agree with Leo” vehemently affirmed Hanare’s distorted voice. “The Galras will get stuck in the labyrinth anyways if they don’t have the codes…”

“But if they do enter,” argued Layla, “and if they do get through and come in possession of the weapon, it would be the end of humanity. We can’t ignore the fact that their technologies are more advanced than ours…”

“We can’t take that risk, I consent, but we can’t risk our lives in the maze either” calmly chimed in Dante. “We are the only hope left to the city…”

“But ain’t it what we’re doing every day?!” cried out Layla in one last desperate attempt. “Risking our lives, I mean. This wouldn’t be any different. I know it seems horrible, but all our families, our friends and much more innocent people are working like slaves, and if we can’t take this risk, it could be the end. This weapon could be our destruction, but controlled correctly, I believe that we could turn it into our victory. Please?”

Leandro, devastated, observed Hiroshi ponder the idea, and then nod slowly. 

“Alright. We don’t have much time nor choice; Layla and Hanare will lead the expedition from the main computer…”

“Actually, if we’re really doing this, only two or three of us should go in.” Said Hanare in an expressionless voice. “The danger of losing the group would be reduced, and we could progress more efficiently.”

Silence fell again. Choosing between one or another of them was heartbreaking, especially when they weren’t sure wether or not they would be walking to their death.

“Well, then…” sighed Alzina. For the first time, her enthusiasm had dissipated. “We have a vote to make…”

The first time that Leandro met Akira, he was curious. Who wouldn’t, when you see a dark boy, with only one glare, make a street gang run away? Street gangs are tough; it’s either hiding and fighting, or being taken away by the city and having experiments done on them, like filthy laboratory rats. They live up to their own rules, making them more brutal, but a lot more free than any citizen.

That day particularly, Leandro felt pinned down by chains heavy of the truths and responsibilities he had to live through everyday; defending the country, being aware of the world’s end… It didn’t feel light, on a young man’s mind.

Schedules were strict, communication was highly supervised and contact with the outside world, except when it came for missions (but only the highest ranks could access them) was rigorously controlled. Leandro missed his family, and he needed air, even if all landscape had been destroyed by machines and technology. 

He stepped outside, the need of a feeling of freedom bigger than the remorse for breaking the rules. However, what was supposed to be a refreshing two hours jaunt was broken by two street boys who, in a sinuous alley, had jumped on him. 

He had tried to push them off, but two more added to the party, and he found himself in a difficult situation; he may had followed lessons, but for the street boys, battles were the main course of their survival. Despite receiving several punches everywhere on his body, Leandro was reluctant to fighting back; his opponents were just kids after all.

He was able to avoid being pinned down for a long moment, but at some point, his opponents took the advantage and threw him on the floor to beat him. Darkness was starting to rise around him when, abruptly, everything stopped; in front of them stood a pale young man, with gloomy eyes and dark long hair, an emotionless mask on his face. Hastily, the boys got up and, walking on a respectful distance of the newcomer, flew away in the day. 

Leandro feared what the man might do to him, but he just held out his hand, clearly indicating peaceful intentions. Leandro accepted his help to get up, and he quickly understood that the guy had firmly rooted values and that, judging by his look, he wouldn’t come to random strangers unless he thought they were worth it. It was ridiculous, but he felt a glimpse of pride as he smiled to thank the boy;

“Thank you! I’m Leandro, what’s your name?”

But all he got for answer was silence.

The guy walked with him for a while; they didn’t speak, but Leandro observed his habits; the way he walked on light steps, discreet as a shadow, but suspicious and tensed, ready to fight. The way he steered clear of any crowded places and important buildings. He had a few helix piercings and his clothes were not poor. Leandro concluded that he wasn’t completely rejecting society, but that he didn’t live up to its rules. 

As time came for Leandro to head back, the guy turned to him and said:

“You should not give your name so lightly to others. They steal it from you.”

And then he nodded abruptly, leaving Leandro confused, but deeply intrigued by this encounter. 

The guy was a strange ally, but one that he would value with the highest respect.

The air was heavy. The silence was heavy. The noises were heavy. Everything was heavy between these thick walls, everything was odd and beyond the natural. 

Breathing was hard. Speaking was hard. Walking was hard. How would they be able to advance to an end if they already felt numb and dizzy? 

Akira, who was opening the path for Leandro, didn’t seem the less bit affected by the fact that they were completely at the labyrinth’s mercy, though; his shoulders were tensed, but his back was straight and his pace determined.

Earlier, the team had voted; they all agreed that they couldn’t risk sending Hiroshi in, and that he would lead the journey through the devices allowing the contact with them; Layla and Hanare, technologies experts and trainee, would lock their signal on the traps and deactivate them as they would advance, and they would tell them the way to the center. Dante was better for holding the team together than for being thrown into action, but that left four members; the choice had fallen on Akira, who, of all of them, had lived through the most tangled paths and seemed the best to find himself in a labyrinth, and Leandro to cover him.

“Walk more slowly, for God’s sake!” shouted Layla in their ear.

Leandro winced, and he moved closer to Akira. They heard a high pitched sound coming from inside the walls, followed by a trigger and then silence. 

“You would have been disintegrated by what you could call lasers if you walked further on this path” bitterly announced Layla.

“Turn to the right at the next intersection.” Hanare pointed out.

And it was justified; not so long ago, they almost ran through a hologram of a path, looking so realistic they would have innocently fallen to an endless death if Hanare hadn’t noticed it in time.

Akira had a resigned look as he exchanged a glance with Leandro.

Leandro wondered if his friend felt the atmosphere around them. The air was mixed with a modified molecule that intervened with the natural course of fear and doubts and insanity; they could fall deep in unhappy memories and think of them so realistically that they would forget themselves, forever lost into a double sided maze: the material one, and the one of their mind, with so much secrets hidden in its darkness that they could spend eternity trying to find the way out.

At least, that was how Leandro felt. He was constantly fighting off his desire to lay down and lose himself, cowardly but peacefully. If he fell deep enough, maybe he would find his youth, were everything was free of all worries, he thought lazily. But then, he shook his head; he couldn’t let down his team, he couldn’t let down the world, and he couldn’t let down Akira.

“Yes, but they could go on without you” a perfidious voice inside him whispered.

Leandro realized that he was losing his mind again. 

“At least, it would be better than getting lost in this labyrinth…” he thought bitterly. “I would eventually remember the way out…”

It occurred to him that there was no map that could guide him inside his own self, and no one who had the same perception as him. If he got lost in his mind, no one would be able to get him out, as the traps in there were far more dangerous, unknown to any man but him. And even he had trouble keeping them down. Besides, would he prefer coming back to this world of torture and cruelty when he could live with sweet memories?

Leandro must have had sighed wearily, because he suddenly noticed Akira turning to him with a look of concern. He gulped, but then, quietly, his friend just slowed down until Leandro arrived at his level, and they continued walking side by side. Leandro felt really grateful for that simple, but soft attention, and he offered Akira shy smile. It was a relieving distraction for him; as they progressed deeper into the maze, he would sometimes feel his heart skip a beat as his partner’s hand stroked his own on an unintentional movement.

He was starting to feel lighter when sudden screams burst on the other side of the device. Along their progression, the rest of the team had argued softly, but now, they were literally yelling in panic:

“STOP!!! DON’T MOVE!!!”

Out of an old street reflex, Akira jumped a bit forward, all tensed up for danger, bringing Leandro along with him. Then, they abruptly froze; around them, they heard, soft but disturbing, some beeping that announced only one thing: they stepped right at the center of a trap.

“DON’T. MAKE. THE. SLIGHTEST. MOVEMENT.”

Layla was breathing heavily in the device, crazily tapping codes of all sorts on the computer. They understood in a flash; a bomb, with sensors, would explode as soon as it would capture motion from them.

“At least, the walls would be down” Leandro said nervously.

Akira sent him a weird look, almost as if he refrained himself to laugh, but didn’t turn his head. They stood there, perfectly still, until they felt the tension decreasing. As the beeping stopped, Layla blurted out:

“In fact, the walls would hold. You wouldn’t have such luck, though.”

On these gloomy words, they took a few steps forward, hesitantly, and then they put on a much slower pace, careful with their gestures. 

They went on like this for some time (but they couldn’t know precisely), until Leandro, feeling too much pressured to bear the silence of the labyrinth longer, asked Akira:

“How long do you think we’ve been in there?”

Akira, with a dark look, answered:

“The real question is, how long will we be there?”

Leandro cracked a smile;

“We could go on and on like that; how long will it take to bring the weapon out? How long will it take to crack its secret and form a plan to fight the Galras? How long will it take before life goes back to what it was?”

He regretted his words as soon as they came out, but they didn’t seem to affect Akira;

“And how long will it take before there’s another attack and we have to start all this over?” Akira murmured gloomily.

Leandro thought for a second;

“I’d try to survive this before moving on to the next battle…”

There was a silence, and then…

“How long will it take so life becomes better?”

Leandro turned to Akira, surprised by the sudden question, and he smiled softly;

“Wow, that’s pretty deep… In which way?”

Akira was bitter;

“In a way where all forms of lives would respect each other... Of course, with technology making human race mad, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon...” 

Akira looked so melancholic that Leandro quickly blurted out :

“You’re right, you know? I mean, we see what happens with...” he exaggeratedly glanced to his left and his right to see if anyone was listening. “Layla, and her obsessions with the machines...” he whispered dramatically. It was ridiculous, but it worked. However, he barely heard the indignant yelps from the concerned, as he was blinded by Akira's smile. A playful smile, a satisfied smirk, the expression of someone walking with his friends, in some peaceful place, and not on a dangerous mission with the lives of a whole society on their shoulders. That was the smile Leandro wanted to stare for the eternity. And while there was snickers and sharp replies, he murmured for himself :

“How long will it take for happiness to relieve you from what you've lived?”

The second time that Leandro saw Akira, he was uneasy; as much in the situation as in his existence. But he opened up to a new perception.

It was a few weeks after their first acquaintance; Leandro had gotten out into town to get a new tattoo, to color his skin with the dreams he couldn’t reach. As he had walked out of the styling shop, he had run into him.

It had been a surprise; the boy seemed to have gotten out of a hairstyle shop just in front, and he was on his guards. Leandro didn’t push it, instead giving him a small smile and greeting him with a nod. They walked far from the crowds in an awkward silence before turning to a much quieter corner of the city.

At some point, Leandro broke the silence; speaking hesitantly, he talked about his family and opened up about his dreams. His regrets that, because of the war, he had to learn battle techniques instead of dances, secret codes and yells instead of songs, and double agent infiltration instead of theatre. His doubts to ever see survival becoming a life again.

After a while, uneasiness dissipated; he felt that his secrets would be safe, buried deep in the guy’s mind and never revealed to plain sight. It was a relief for him, and a surprise when he heard the guy respond on a low tone, slowly, as if he was not habituated to use his voice;

“I understand when you say that survival is draining” he murmured. “I’m tired of having my hair dyed black, but I need it; I need to maintain a dark facade. For the streets.”

That was… pretty deep, and the more Leandro thought about it, the more he felt compassion for the guy. He didn’t want to ask his name again, but he couldn’t refrain this question to cross his lips;

“Why do you live in the streets?”

The boy stayed quiet for a moment, but then he replied :

“It is easier to keep the control of my own mind.”

Leandro suddenly felt bad for asking questions so personal, and they walked in silence, until the moment came for them to separate.

From then on, both of them had similar feelings towards each other; hanging out together, like the few times they did after that episode, it was like a pause from an otherwise heavy existence, that they both wanted to escape; they just met and went away when their life was calling them. Because it was like a breath of fresh air, a breath of the things that they both needed, but that were simply out of their reach : freedom, from secrets, responsibilities and technologies. 

“Guys, it's weird” said Layla in the device.

They've literally been in a deadly labyrinth full of traps and a poisonous air, and they were realizing it now? When Leandro said that Layla was mad earlier, he didn't really mean it. Thankfully, Akira was more polite in his choice of words that he would have been;

“What is?” 

“The interactive map has some symbols for every traps, and codes to deactivate them. But now, I see something else, and it's not normal. Well, less normal than what I've seen in the last hours. It's just, like... some energy. And I can't isolate it!”.

“And it's not the same signature as the rest of the maze's technology” added Hanare. “Like, both of you release some energy, in fact, it seems that Akira emits more, but we can't enter a code to control you…”

“Now that you say it... LOOK OUT!!!” 

The scream made both Leandro and Akira jump, and they took several steps back, but it didn't seem adressed to them. They heard more yells from the other side of the device, and some groans and weird noises. And then, a sharp cutting noise, followed by a long buzz before... silence. Communication was cut.

Leandro stood there, frozen, as panic filled him up; not only was he and Akira alone, without any leads or escape of the maze, but their friends… What happened?!

“Kira…” Leandro started, his hands shaking as fear took control of his mind. 

His breath was accelerating, and he felt cold, and burning on the inside. Akira noticed it, and quickly, he chimed in softly :

“Hey, calm down. We can’t do anything, but continue forward. Remember, if we’re in there, it’s to get that damn weapon. Then, everything will fall back in place. I hope…”

Akira looked awkward and tensed, but the fact that he got out of his way to comfort Leandro actually made him feel lighter, even if his words were far from being certain and relieving. He took a deep breath, but it was abruptly cut short as Akira reached out his hands and placed them on his shoulders, keeping such a small distance between them that Leandro would be surprised if his heart didn’t jump straight to his partner’s face. Would be, because his emotions seemed far away from his body; he only felt Akira’s breath on his lips and only saw his eyes, an endless twirl of black intertwined with rays of purple and dark memories. 

The moment was brief; a brutal noise from somewhere in the labyrinth brought them back to reality, and they shook their head to dispel their torpor. Thinking about what Layla had said, just before cutting out, about an energy incompatible with the maze's system, it lead to a few hypothesis on the source of the noise, but only one which could be correct;

“There's people in there, right?” Leandro murmured as he got even closer to Akira. 

The boy just nodded darkly, seeming more worried than ever. After a few seconds, they set off again on a slow and cautious pace, ready to run at any sound. 

Leandro wondered how Akira picked up their path, but he figured that his friend could sense the traps and ways, because twice already, he had made him turn around to take another turn. 

The atmosphere was unbearable; the maze was designed to make anyone who stepped inside feel trapped, enslaved by an artificial spirit and totally at its mercy. Leandro felt it, felt like every step was just getting him closer to torture and endless weariness; but then, he looked at Akira, and suddenly it wasn’t chains that he fought to hold up, but an anchor, that wasn't letting him drift as far as he'd like to, but that was giving him a chance to navigate to his goal. 

At each new passage, they threw a rock or a useless instrument to activate whatever trap that would wait for a victim. The team still didn’t make contact with them, and Leandro tried not to worry too much for them and to concentrate on their survival. Sometimes, old bones and skulls gave away hopeless attempts of old soldiers to get through the labyrinth, and each time they turned back and stayed at a careful distance of the deceased. Each new path brought its own uneasiness and its own doubts; the more he advanced, the more Leandro came to the dark conlclusion that they were doomed to fail. 

Over the hours (minutes, hours, days, did it really matter?), their progress became slower, more uncertain and most of all, less cautious. Maybe that was why the next trap caught them. Maybe it was because its sensors didn’t capt the rock, but the heat that a living creature emits. Nonetheless, as Akira listlessly threw his rock in the passage, he was still walking forward, and suddenly, both of them were splashed with acid.

Maybe it wasn’t acid, but the reaction of the substance surely looked like it; steam, stinking with chemical products, started rising from some spots on their armour, and it began to dissolve on their skin, burning them to the bone. They both started screaming, and, on a stupid impulse, running forward. The path was only one way, and their reaction must have been anticipated by hundreds years old soldiers, because they stepped on the void. 

A hologram had replaced the floor that they thought would support them, so they brutally fell; luckily, Leandro had learnt how to land without serious injuries, and Akira had the training and the strength of any street boy. 

They still landed harshly, but they immediately removed their armour in panick, yelping as some acid touched their skin. Finally, breathing hard, Leandro yelled :

“What was that?!”

Akira looked dizzy, slowly sliding to the ground;

“Where are we?” he said, panting, as he brought his knees closer to his chest.

Every time that Leandro could get out of the Garrison, now, he was unconsciously looking for Akira, who was still a mysterious punk boy for him. He was in a restless state, and he needed more than ever an escape. 

It was a rough period for him; everything that he did just seemed to get him more tangled and lost with himself. Every moment of his routine was filled with boredom and loneliness; his heart felt heavier as he found, in every detail, a cause of unfortune, anxiety and depression. So yes, he was looking for something who was out of this chaos, who could get him out of this chaos, because, frankly, his life was a mess.

It was in this mood that he went out again. That day, he felt particularly down and frustrated, and when he felt followed, watched in every step he took, it became unbearable; he yelled out his irritation, his anger, his sadness and depression in a tangled cry of distress to whoever was hearing him. 

It took Akira by surprise; the boy had stayed hidden from the noises of the town, but when he had seen Leandro, he had felt the sudden need to talk to someone, desperately, the need of company. But then, as the boy turned to his presence with a look of pure loathe, he instinctively backed off, feeling betrayed. 

Leandro, as soon as he recognized him, felt all anger leave him at once, and, suddenly feeling sick, called him with a shaky voice, at the edge of breaking down. He saw that the boy had regained a dark expression. 

However, the guy stopped stepping back. Leandro was so relieved that he hadn’t made him run away out of a selfish short temper that tears started flowing. His eyes went wide as he noticed the sudden glimpse of panic in the guy’s look, and he tried to shake off the misunderstanding :

“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” he kept repeating, his voice shaky of his attempts to refrain his sobs. 

But, as Leandro felt like he had failed again, the boy started talking; he was uncomfortable and taken by surprise, but it didn’t stop him from trying to entertain Leandro the best he could, to comfort him. 

It was so soft and innocent that Leandro, for a moment, forgot his own problems, before letting out a small laugh, weak, but fond. He felt genuinely grateful for the boy’s effort to comfort him, and maybe that was when he felt his heart missing a beat; when he saw the guy’s eyes glitter and a shy smile forming on his lips. That was the first time that Leandro saw him happy, and he found it pure and beautiful. 

Just then, he noticed of how nervous the guy looked; Leandro felt his heart melt, and, in return of his previous attempts to comfort him, he tried to reassure him. 

At that moment, a bond developped between the two of them; Akira was the first one to sense that, whatever would happen, his destiny was intertwined with Leandro’s, that it was useless to keep hiding from him. For the first time in this existence, he decided to let his barriers down, to let through a part of himself, the key to his mind; Akira gave Leandro his name. 

In awe, Leandro swore that he would keep it for him; with only one word, he knew that Akira was giving him his trust.

Leandro opened his eyes, and almost immediately, he felt like a hundred needles were stinging from all sides of his globes. He winced and laboriously sat up, but then he abruptly stopped his movements; when he and Akira had passed out, they had believed that they had simply fallen in a hole, but now, he observed their surroundings and realized : they weren’t in a hole, they were in a dusty laboratory.

Leandro slowly got up and walked to Akira, still making out the place; he supposed that the room was used back in the war by the officers, to make the fallen soldiers prisoners and to experiment their tests on them. Refraining a shiver, he leant over Akira and softly shook his shoulder to wake him up. 

His partner woke up with difficulty, looking dazed. He was frowning, and for a minute, he seemed lost. However, as Leandro explained softly where they had landed, his expression became resigned. 

To be frank, Leandro wasn’t any better; he hadn’t slept well (who would, when there is no difference between day and night, nightmare and reality…), every centimetre of his body hurted, and he was scared, anxious, worried about his friends, about his situation and about Akira. 

And misfortune seemed to follow them; as Leandro helped his friend up, concerned about his evident weakening, they heard heavy footsteps of a group advancing together; they had been found.

For a crucial second, they just stared wearily at the noises’s direction. For a crucial second, they stood still, visible of anyone who’d enter the room. But then, at the same time, the realization struck them, and, brutally, the issue that they had to face became a life or death situation.

Together, they jumped and ran to the opposite side of the room, desperately trying to find a new passage, but they arrived at a locked, reinforced door that cut short their escape;

“There... Must... Be... A... Way out!” yelled Akira, panting. The adrenaline had gotten to him, and all tiredness seemed to have vanished.

Just then, Leandro saw how frustrated Akira looked, how destabilized. All that time he lived in the streets, he never had been this vulnerable, this helpless. It made Leandro feel closer to him, to understand his heart, because these were the emotions he was driven by so often. 

The footsteps were getting closer, so close that they could hear voices echoing against the walls of the laboratory. While Akira was frantically looking for a way to open the door, Leandro listened, and the tones made his blood run cold; Galras were coming to get them, and they had technological weapons that were still working despite the maze’s field;

“Officer, this is troop number 4 reporting, do you copy? Our number is down; six soldiers have fallen, and we haven’t found the weapon… Officer, maybe our transmissions were wrong… Yes, we’re still following the rebel’s signal, it’s in the labyrinth…” 

There was a brief silence on the Galra’s side, and then…

“Alright, troop, this is your officer's command, we must find the rebel, he will lead us to the weapon!” 

There was some protests inside the Galras, but one was stupid enough to retort directly to the order. It was fortunate for Leandro and Akira, because they were still trying to get past the door;

“Why, lieutenant? I bet he is all alone, since a troop attacked the other rebels, he can’t so much wrong…” 

Leandro gulped; it was his friends they were talking about!

“BECAUSE WE LOST CONNECTION OF THE TROOPS DEALING WITH THE REBELS AND BECAUSE THE WEAPON, EVEN DEALT WITH A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL, COULD BRING THE LOSS OF OUR EMPIRE! DO YOU STILL DARE QUESTIONNING DIRECT ORDERS!?!” 

Akira’s hands were shaking; his attempts with the lock had failed and they were driven back against the wall with no chance of survival. Leandro grabbed his hands and, as Akira’s eyes went wide, he offered him a small smile, reassuring, fond, sad, resigned. But then, as they were facing their deaths, determined, the door behind them had a loud click; on the Galra’s side, silence had fallen, and then, the lieutenant shouted :

“They’re here!”

For a fraction of second, they stayed petrified, and then Leandro turned and vehemently opened the door. As soon as Akira and he stepped in the room, he closed it quickly and locked it again, with no clue of how all of that happened so simply.

Panting, letting panic slowly leave their bodies, they observed their surroundings; the room wasn’t big, but every centimetre was occupied with an advanced technological defense system. Their breath cut short; in front of us, standing in the center of the room, a device, no bigger than a shoe box, was radiating power. Leandro carefully picked it up, and almost dropped it; despite its size, the weapon was heavy, and the simple contact of his skin against it sent unnatural shivers down his spine. He shoved it in a bag that he found on the floor and left it there, disgusted.

He was slowly starting to understand; the weapon wasn’t at the center of the maze, it was under it. During World War III, there must have been codes designed specifically to disable any other way to get to that room than to go through the door. A system controlled by a special network… Did it mean that their friends were alright, that they had opened the door for them?

From the other side of the door, he heard some yells;

“They’re behind that door! Break it!”

The walls shook with the strenght of the hits, and a few times, a high pitched noise, really close to the ultrasound, followed by a rattling, much more powerful than the others. Leandro was astonished; 

“How... how do you think they got their guns working in there?” asked Leandro, filled with fear and horror.

They got back from the door and then slid down to the floor. Akira didn’t answer; his eyes were wide and his skin was much paler than usual, and he was still shaking. His gaze seemed far away. 

“Kira?” Leandro inquired, worried. 

His partner pulled his knees to his chest and rapidly shook his head. Leandro would gladly have exchanged his position to be at the knees' place, so he could hear Akira's heart. At the same time, the boy looked so vulnerable that he felt like he should be the one pulling him onto his heart. Leandro brutally dispelled his thoughts, as they were half ridiculous, half unnecessary. 

Akira slightly lifted up his head;

“It's my fault.” he blurted out, looking about to throw up. 

Leandro stared at him, startled; there was a fire of madness and determination in his eyes. He thought, maybe it was the poisoned air, giving him hallucinations, but then he realized that, in this room, he was perfectly lucid. 

“In town, after speaking with the underground network, I...” continued Akira with a shaky voice. “the Galras... some of them saw me. They... they took me, and they transplanted something in my neck, just under my skull... I don't understand, why couldn’t I remember before?!” 

He was clearly on the edge of bursting into tears, and for the first time, he didn’t try to refrain it. Leandro, almost panicked, clasped him against his chest as he tried to reassure him; but Akira was already too deep into emotions that he had kept for him forever;

“I endangered the whole team, and with it, the sake of the whole world!” he yelled. “Because of me, our friends are abducted, our base put down, everything we built up, burnt, and we are stuck between a legion of Galras and a deadly weapon!” He wiped away his tears in a frustrated movement. 

Leandro said nothing yet; if Akira needed to talk, he wasn't going to interrupt him. He held him tighter. 

Akira continued, in a tiny voice that made Leandro's heart break :

“They could follow me... That’s how they could enter the maze, find their way, and our team... they... they’re too much, the weapon will fall into their hands... I didn't... now they will find us, they will hurt us, they will hurt you! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn’t know, I didn’t remember...” 

He really was crying, now, and Leandro felt both strong and weak. But also, for once more, he felt closer to Akira, more intimate. It was hard, finding the right words to comfort someone, especially if that someone usually didn't show his emotions. But he didn’t mind; he was ready to take all the pain so his friend could simply be... happy. 

Akira buried his face in Leandro's neck;

“Please, forgive me... I will give myself in to let you a chance, but please, forgive me, I wouldn’t, I couldn’t...” 

Leandro waited for him to calm down, and then he whispered in his ear :

“I can’t forgive you, because there is nothing to forgive. As for you leaving, it would probably kill me faster than a hundred Galras.” 

Leandro had meant it like a joke, like he would mess up without someone looking out for his sorry ass, but now that he said it, he weighed his words and noticed how they must have sounded; he blushed furiously, but didn't apologize for the error, because, as uncomfortable as he was, he realized that he preferred the other meaning as much, if not more, than what he imagined. 

Akira didn’t make any comments on it, and only a fraction of second passed before Leandro continued: 

“We are a team. And I won't let you blame yourself for having a chip installed by force in your skin by a hostile alien specie, because it could happen to anyone, right?” 

Akira let out a short laugh and hugged him tighter. All pain had left Leandro. 

“And the rest of the team, I'm sure they're fine. Galras really will regret not having more of them at our base. I mean, there's a reason why they were the only ones out of the Garrison in time.” As he said that, Leandro's heart squeezed with doubt and hope; he didn't underestimate his friends, but against an army, what chance could seven people stand? The door sure was unexplainable without someone behind the computer, but still… But they couldn’t do anything about it, at least, not until they were out of the maze…

The day that the city fell had started perfectly normally. Leandro was starting to get used to his new life, but that day, he wasn’t able to concentrate; he sometimes looked down the window, and he was stunned when he caught glimpes of Akira wandering at the edge of the Garrison.

He had recognized him immediately, of course; many times, they had ran into one another and spent time wondering about the other’s life; Leandro was starting to consider Akira as a friend, and he knew well that this friend didn’t usually like the company of a technological building like the Garrison.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the evening that he was able to slip outside. As soon as he stepped out of the Garrison, Akira grabbed his arm and brought him in a more peaceful corner of the city. Then, he went straight to the point; speaking fast and efficiently, he said :

“I have a bad feeling; something is wrong. We have to hurry; it’s like the calm before the storm…”

Leandro looked around him; it was true : the town was too quiet, too dark, almost as if…

Power had been cut. And only one thing could do that : a virus.

Leandro’s eyes went wide, and he wanted to turn around and run to warn the Garrison, but suddenly, he and Akira were surrounded by Galras. Akira promptly reacted; drawing a knife out of his belt, he jumped on their closest enemy, letting time for Leandro to get his pistol and aim it; he shot the Galra that had threatened his friend, and, after a short battle, he found himself dragged along in Akira’s escape. He yelled him to let him go, that he had to warn his friends, but the boy replied that it was too late. 

Akira, despite Leandro’s struggle, threw him on the seat of a motorcycle, hidden between two buildings, and drove the fastest possible to get out of town. Fortunately, the engine didn’t make much sound, and they soon reached the town’s borders. 

Akira knew where he was going; he drove straight to a small spot not too far from the boundaries of the city, and he stopped in front of a path that lead underground. If he hadn’t been so devasted, Leandro would have been surprised that he didn’t know about it; after all, he was part of the Garrison, and he should know about their project, like the construction of this bunker.

Because, effectively, it was a bunker, designed as a defensive refuge. Akira explained him that Hiroshi, who he had known for longer than Leandro could think, had wanted him to be able to know a safe place if something happened to the city. Besides, there was chances that people would find it eventually. At least, it was what they hoped.

Thankfully, they were ready to wait. And, eventually, their team reunited.

It was such a relief for him to see Hiroshi and Dante, officers trained for situations like this, bring safely Hanare, Pana (this day, it was Pana), and Rowan. Then, he met Alzina and her uncle, Cola, who left almost immediately to look for other citizens. He stayed in contact with them, but never came back, instead rushing them to fly far from the city and not to reply him, as they were the Earth’s last hope.

That was how they became the rebels.

With the strenght of their knocks and the power of their weapon, the door wouldn’t hold long, now.

The Galras were a rather tenacious race, and when they were on a mission, they would die before giving up.

Leandro was staring at Akira; the boy was frowning, pondering every option they had left. They had to run away with the weapon and try not to be killed in the process. Frankly, Leandro didn’t see much reality where they would go this far, but he wouldn’t give up.

He sighed;

“There’s only one way : to be ready when the door falls. We knock out as many Galra as we can, and we fly out of this place.”

Akira gave him a weary smile;

“We’ll still be stuck in the maze…”

Leandro shrugged; as he said, there wasn’t a lot of hope.

Akira got up and walked to his side, facing the door;

“Let’s hope for the best.” he said.

Leandro glanced at him, and he was blinded by his expression; it was a look of determination, this time. Akira turned to him, and their eyes locked for a moment, before each of them took a deep breath and nodded, a sad glitter in their gaze. Then, Akira drew his knife and Leandro his pistol and they waited for death to fight. 

It wasn’t long before the door cracked. Luckily for them, the Galras couldn’t pass through it more than one at the time. Leandro aimed and shot his pistols, knocking out two Galras before there was a new blow of their weapon that threw the door on the floor. Seeing the weapon against his side in the bag, the Galras became mad, but also afraid to trigger a reaction, which was another positive point in the situation. Akira engaged into a ferocious battle and Leandro followed, looking out for his partner. Screams and shouts vibrated all across the laboratory, but soon enough, Akira spotted an opening through the troops and he didn’t wait longer to grab Leandro and flee away from the battle. 

They ran, not thinking deep into the consequences, but thankfully, they were underground and didn’t trigger any trap. Exhausted, they could only count on fear to give them wings.

At some point, the path seemed to go up, and soon, a faint light could be seen. Hope was their only strength as they progressed towards it, bleeding and tired. 

They emerged outside, and it was only then that Leandro truly breathed, the fresh air healing his mind from the tortures of the labyrinth.

He and Akira walked laboriously to the village. Despite being out of the maze, Akira looked miserable, and his hand often went up the back of his neck, probably to the chip’s emplacement. 

That was another problem to deal with, Leandro thought, and he was even more depressed since it was Akira. They were both exhausted, overwhelmed, hungry and thirsty, injured, and he could go on. They didn't need to blame themselves in addition to all of that. So when Akira's hand moved up to his neck again, Leandro grabbed it and held it tight. Akira jumped a bit, and he looked at him, surprised, but his gaze was already away. 

Now that they were out of the maze, their worries about their friends came flooding back to them, but then, just as they lost all hope, they heard from the distance :

“Look! It’s them! Leandro, Akira! We’re here!”

Their friends… it was too much relief for Leandro’s weakened state : he collapsed on his knees, bringing down Akira, who fell down more graciously. The last thing that Leandro saw was a fond smile piercing through Akira’s façade.

He woke up later, and despite all his muscles being numb, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore. He quietly got up, surprised to be standing in an actual bedroom, with a real bed. He didn’t linger on this detail longer, though; he felt like something was calling him.

Leandro walked in the corridor, analyzing his surroundings; he figured that, after being attacked by the Galras, the team had found shelter in a new bunker. He was about to progress further when he saw, by an open door, Akira laying down on the floor, eyes staring at the ceiling.

Except that, as Leandro entered the room, the ceiling was more like a giant window that gave on the sky; the moon was high and the stars were bright, brighter than what he had seen in the last years.

He felt uncomfortable; he hadn’t wanted to impose his presence in Akira’s peace, but then, his friend slowly turned his head towards him and gave him a small smile, inviting him to stay. 

Leandro was grateful, and he layed down close to Akira, feeling his heart accelerate a bit; he hoped that he wasn’t blushing.

They stayed side to side, their gaze deep in the sky, into a peaceful silence. Surprisingly, Akira broke it;

“I always liked the sky” he murmured. “Even when I couldn’t see the stars, what was beyond intrigued me. I liked to be lost under it. Now that I know what is beyond, I don't know if I'd be scared, alone. But I still like the stars.” 

Leandro didn't know what to say to that. Maybe there wasn't anything to say, that just sharing the moment was enough. Akira lifted his body to the side, to face Leandro. 

“Leo... my mind was a mess. Since the wars, deaths, since I arrived alone in the country with my father because my mother had died on the battlefield, I couldn't do a single thing without losing it. When we were in the maze... that's how my mind felt like. How could I trust others if I didn’t even know myself?” 

Leandro was startled; he always doubted that there was a deeper past about Akira, but he never imagined that the boy already had lived through a war, through grief. But he didn’t interrupt Akira; he was all ears and heart open. 

“Then, my father died too, leaving me no home but enough for me to live… Leo, you're the first one that I can trust. You were the first one I came back to. My brain didn’t mean it, but... I don't know, I still don't know the way into my personal maze, but I know you guided me through it. I'm still a mess, but instead of trying to “un-mess” me, you showed me that it was ok, that I would learn to walk through it with more facility than how I did before, and it worked...”

Leandro had fallen under Akira’s spell, and he couldn’t refrain his hope to flower all the way up to his heart. 

Akira was blushing, and he stuttered :

“You… you opened the path that was hidden too well in my maze, the path to my… to my…”

Since he didn’t seem able to form another word, he grabbed Leandro’s hand and placed it on his heart. It was beating so rapidly that he wasn’t able to make out each beat. But maybe that was in addition of his own heart too. 

Akira stared deep in his eyes and continued in a murmur: 

“See? It's easier to show than to say. When I'm alone, I'm a mess. But when you're there... You guide me, and my heart becomes the mess. But it’s a mess that I don’t want to hide.”

The night was cold and quiet. The calm before the storm.

Leandro was sitting behind Akira, holding him tight as he rode his motorcycle towards the town. Despite the fact that the team was heading to war, the last strike, as they wanted to believe, he was smiling. He felt peaceful and at ease, but excited and happy at the same time.

The calm before the storm. 

When the sun had risen into the sky, that morning, Leandro had opened his eyes to Akira’s peaceful expression. To their fingers intertwined. He had felt like he had just woken up for the first time.

They had fallen asleep together in the sky’s room. And their dreams had been the exact opposite of their situation; they still were in war.

Leandro buried his face into Akira’s neck and held him tighter; his boyfriend smiled fondly, but there was a hint of fear in his gaze, the fear of not being able to see another morning like this.

While they had been sleeping, after having gotten out of the labyrinth, Layla had analyzed the weapon, and the team had formed a plan; the conversation that they’ve had afterwards resumed it well;

As soon as they stepped into the meeting room, Layla sent them a smugly look, noticing for sure their intertwined fingers, but didn’t make any comment; instead, she started her explanations immediately :

“Right, so I evaluated the “weapon”. In fact, it's more of a super advanced technology piece. This small device interferes with the magnetic energy contained in the living creatures. The concept is amazing, in the way of ingeniousity. I mean, a machine capable to work with only human energy...” 

“Alright, please come to your point.” interrupted Alzina, absently playing into Rowan’s hair.

Layla gave them a gloomy look;

“It's horrible. It was designed to create... electronical chocks of a certain power, in neuro-electromagnetical sources, which we only find in specific energy sources, like in some animals, and all humans. Once activated, it could gravely injured, if not kill, any living creature by a simple pressure on the main button…”

That was a quite depressing thing to hear.

“I get why Hignuas wanted to get it.” Started Rowan hesitantly. “It would be easy to exterminate human race without any difficulty, but how will we use it against them? There is a whole lot of us in the cities. As much as we want to kick them out of the planet, we can't risk destructing everyone of us, right?” 

Layla sent her a weary look;

“Well, that's the thing; it only capts active sources of energy. Take a tree, for example; it produces a passive form of energy, nothing, compared to human bodies. So the weapon, as ingenious as it it, can only interfere with these sources. Instead of being relied to another compatible technology, it can connect to our energy.” 

“Which is why we can't use it! We could hurt or even kill human race!” Hanare exclaimed, implying that they’ve already debated it. 

Layla glanced at him, annoyed.

“Then we just need to concentrate the emissions to Galran energy instead of human! We're going to need the citizens' help; when the weapon is activated, a shock will be sent to all Galras, strong enough so they're knocked out. Then, we'll have to bring them at our knees; they’ll have to leave Earth and never come back! We have to scare them, because that's the only way they'll respect us.”

“But how will we only bring down Galras?” instisted Hanare. “Is their energy so strong compared to ours that the weapon won’t pick up ours, as trees wouldn’t be hurt since they’re “passive”?” 

“Let go the trees, we're in another era, now.” Replied Layla, satisfied. “Cola studied a long time Galran traditions, and we know that they have worked so long around a very powerful source of energy that some of it have infected their systems, infected their blood, and was passed through generations. If, suddenly, we drained them from this energy, their system wouldn’t have time to adapt, so it wouldn’t work correctly. I relied on that to adapt the weapon, so it recognizes only that energy. Of course, the power of the strike is generated to the general amount of the quantity of that energy in each Galra… The more energy they have in their system, the more is to be turned against them…”

The team arrived to the town’s boundaries and shutted down their engines. Leandro hopped off Akira’s motorcycle and stared at him, sadly, as his boyfriend straightened his back and drew his knife, a dark expression back on his face, with a fire in his eyes. Leandro then turned to observe the whole team one last time; Layla, who was carefully adjusting last minute details on the weapon; Hanare, who had his eyes shut, taking deep inspirations; Alzina, whose usual energetic nature had been replaced by a gloomy resignation; Rowan, whose lips were trembling, but who still forced a smile to reassure Leandro as she saw him looking at her; Dante, who gently stroke his husband’s hand, and Hiroshi who had a fierce and determined look, only softened when he felt Dante’s hand against his side. All of this made Leandro sink deeper into sadness; when this was all over, would they ever be the same? 

Their existence had been torn apart by Galras, but were they really happy with what they had? Hiroshi and Dante were surely; they were together, they had chosen their life. But what about the others? Leandro fought for his family, but after, what would he have?

“I will have Akira” he thought.

Then, he realized that Akira’s situation was far worse than his : in their society, he didn’t even have a name, and still, he fought for them. Would he be forgotten and back in the streets when he’d have achieved his purpose? Leandro promised himself that it would never happen, and it is with a new strenght that he waited for everything to start.

The team tensed up as they made out a figure in the darkness of the dawn, but they were relieved when they heard Cola’s voice;

“The underground network is ready. Are you?”

Alzina jumped into his arms, and then, taking a deep breath, she nodded for the rest of them. Quietly, they followed Cola to their positions…

“Layla will activate the weapon in two minutes; good luck” he whispered to Leandro and Akira.

They had been the last ones placed, but thankfully, they were close to each other. Leandro stared at Akira, and both of them smiled wearily, fondly and sadly. 

It really was the calm before the storm.

The countdown until the fight had started, and Leandro suddenly felt doubts. There was something that they didn’t consider, but what? 

Ten seconds. Nine. Eight…

Akira was staring at the distance. His hand went up his neck to the chip… The chip…

Leandro’s eyes went wide; they didn’t remove the chip! 

Three… two… one…

There was an ultrasound and emissions so powerful that Leandro felt vibrations. Then, roars, yells and finally, panicked shrieks echoed throughout the town. However, Leandro became deaf to everything; he didn’t hear the Galras shouting, he didn’t see them try to run away, he didn’t assist to their fall and he didn’t join the citizens in their joy to bring their torturers down. 

Akira screamed out of pain, and then he collapsed on the ground, blood pouring down from a tiny spot in his neck. The chip had explosed out of the power of the vibrations, and the high concentration of Galran energy had brought unbearable pain from electronic shocks beneath the skin…

Leandro froze, horrified, and then screamed. He ran in his boyfriend’s direction, calling his name, but all he got for answer was silence.

“Akira! Akira! Please, Akira!” he blurted out, tears falling down without he even noticed them. He knelt down and lifted up Akira’s upper body, keeping his head onto his chest. He was feeling a warm substance running down his arms, but he didn’t care. 

“Kira?” Leandro whispered, trembling.

Some street people were discreetly getting out of the shadows; they had accomplished their mission, they had looked out for Galras who hadn’t fallen, and now, they came for him…

Akira suddenly took a sharp breath and coughed; he wasn’t doing any good, but the simple fact that he was alive filled Leandro with joy and relief, and he hugged him tighter.

“Leo?” Akira murmured, a smile forming through the pain.

Through the pain, through his facade, a new light had come to life.

The first time that Akira kissed Leandro wouldn’t be until a month after the Galras were down. But it had been worth it; he had felt free.

It had been three weeks since he had gotten out of the hospital; the whole town had worked days and nights to help the injured get on their feet again and to repair the damages that the Galras had inflicted to them. 

That day, as many others before, Akira had worked hard between the citizens and the underground network, as street people were recognized now, but it was like he didn’t belong with any of them. 

Leandro often went to see him, regardless of his own tasks and the underground network’s suspicion, and every time it lit up his day. But they couldn’t go on like this forever.

Somewhere in the end of the afternoon, his boyfriend (was it fair of him to smile hopelessly each time he pronounced the word?) grabbed his hand and brought him away, making him sit down in a car, blindfolded.

He drove for about an hour, an hour where Akira felt only the peaceful sound of the engine and Leandro’s hand on his own tight as he hummed happily. 

They had stopped as the day was falling down, but Akira still couldn’t see. Leandro stepped out of the car and opened Akira’s door, drawing his boyfriend into a soft embrace, gently stroking his hair and removing the blindfold with infinite slowness. It was peaceful; it was magical.

And then, a whole new world was revealed; Akira had felt it, even without seeing; there was a serene silence, a light atmosphere and a refreshing air that had filled his senses with freedom and joy. And now, he saw it : green grass, trees colored with autumn and a fascinating landscape of mountains and vegetation. But most importantly, a view on the sky, on the calm sunset and the pure night that was coming, creating the most beautiful pattern of wildness and nature. 

And it was even more peaceful and magical, because Leandro was at his side, smiling fondly in front of his amazement.

Akira realized that his mask had fallen apart, but he didn’t care; a long time ago, or so it felt, his heart had let his soul pierce through to one and only. He took a deep inspiration, and, far from any cameras, technologies or other human beings that infiltrated and drove to madness one’s mind, he closed the distance between them and layed a tender kiss on Leandro’s lips.

Akira didn’t need a place with citizens or undergroung network : he belonged here. He belonged with Leandro.


End file.
